Zeeland West High School Girls Varsity Soccer beat Allendale High School 3-0

Game Recap

The Dux varsity girls soccer team made the most of their last home game of the regular season, as they blanked Allendale 3-0 Wednesday. Halie Farrell struck first for the Dux less than 10 minutes into the game after a clever little pass from Mattie Busscher inside the penalty area. The Dux dominated possession and had the run of play a majority of the first half, and created several other good scoring chances that unfortunately did not result in extending their lead. “We were very active and aggressive up top tonight in terms of moving off of the ball and creating confusion for their back line, which opened things up for us in attacking the flanks. Because of the mobility of our forwards tonight, our midfield players had a little more room and time to move the ball around, which led to some quality chances.”
The second half was more of the same, although Allendale did put a bit more pressure on the Dux midfield and defense for the first ten minutes. However, the resiliency and experience of the Dux defensive line was up to the task, only allowing 1 shot on goal the entire 2nd half. “Our defense is gaining confidence and looking for opportunities to join our attack, which made things difficult for Allendale tonight. They had us marked up, and then one of our backs would slip by on the outside and carry the ball into the box.” This is precisely what happened on the 2nd goal for the Dux. Kylee Winn took a ball near midfield and beat her opponent to the endline, and sent a great cross back across the box where Ashtyn Dykstra simply guided it into the net. “That is a play we have been working on pretty consistantly. It was nice to see all of that hard work pay off.”
Kayla Burrows capped the scoring off of a corner kick by Sam Hecht. “Burrows volleyed the ball out of the air towards the goal, but didn’t get a ton of power behind it. However, Dykstra checked towards the ball on a dummy run and let the ball slip between her legs and over the endline. Her movement froze their keeper, and allowed the ball to cross the line.”
“I am very pleased with how we played tonight. I am especially pleased with the play and leadership of our seniors tonight. It’s special to say that you won your last regular season home game of your career in a convincing manner, in front of family and friends. This win gives us a lot of confidence heading into the district tournament next week.”
The Dux begin MHSAA tournament play on Tuesday, when they host Wyoming at 1:00pm. The Dux finished the regular season with a record of 10-7-3.